The King, the Maids, the Jester and the Stablehand
by Paloma Latina
Summary: King Sirius wants to be the richest, Maids Lily and Jayne want to run away, Jester Remus wants to keep his head and Stablehand James wants to make a living. When their worlds collide, everything changes. A different type of fic. Marauders Minus Peter.
1. News

The King, the Maids, the Jester and the Stable Hand

By RabbitohsGirl

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Summary: King Sirius wants to be the richest, Maids Lily and Jayne want to run away, Jester Remus wants to keep his head and Stable Hand James wants to make a living. When their worlds collide, everything changes.

Disclaimer: I only own Jayne, the plot and anything else that hasn't been copyrighted.

Author's note: Okay, this is a _bit_ AU. It is set in the olden days when women didn't have many rites, all kingdoms were ruled by kings, and electricity was just a crazy dream in an even crazier professor's head. It was probably even in the time of the founders. I hope you like it. My other story – My Hero Stayed Silent – is my first priority; this is just a bit of fun for the meantime. It helps me write my other fic, funnily enough.

Reviews: Guys, just because I update anyway, doesn't mean I don't want reviews. They make my day.

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Here we go...

Lily Evans awoke to the sound of laughter. She raised her head and turned to where the noise was coming from. Jayne White, her best friend, was giggling childishly. Jayne was short, skinny, blonde had had amazing blue eyes. The two of them were orphans in _Miss Beaumont's Academy for Parentless Children_. I think they were just trying to put 'orphan' in a nicer way. That or they were drunk when they were naming the academy.

Lily was not a morning person and resented the sound of giggling early in the day. Lily had deep red, long hair and emerald eyes. She was a bit taller than Jayne and better nourished. The two of them shared a dorm room together with Remus Lupin, a male orphan. Miss Beaumont had disapproved of putting men and women together, but there was nowhere else apart from the attic and everybody knew, that was where she keeps her alcohol.

"Jayne, _what_ is going on?" Lily asked sleepily, still opening her eyes.

A ray of sunlight was streaming through the window and straight onto the girls. Jayne looked like an angel but Lily looked more like a ginger cat that had just been in a fight. Jayne turned to her friend and smiled.

"Nice to have you back, Lils. Why was I laughing? Remus just said something funny."

Remus Lupin was a tall, muscular boy with sandy blonde hair and stormy grey eyes. He was rather dashing and most of the girls in the academy fancied him. Although, he never looked _their_ way twice. He was very good friends with Jayne and Lily, but his best friend was Jason Summerby. A quiet little, short boy who was hardly ever seen. Remus always made the girls laugh - he was a bit of a clown.

"Well, turn it down a bit. I am trying to sleep."

"Er, Lily?"

"What, Jayne?" Lily snapped from under her blankets.

"The warning bell is about to go."

The warning bell: a siren that bellows through the school's halls to tell the children that breakfast is about to begin. Breakfast was a must for all. If you did not show, you were smacked across the bottom twice for _tardiness_. Of course, to attend, you must be fully dressed, groomed, awake and ready to eat.

"Bullocks!" Lily muttered and ran to the dressing table as the bell rang.

She threw off her nightgown – Remus respectively turning away – and rummaged through her trunk for a clean uniform. When she couldn't find one, she screamed and ran back to the dresser to do her hair. Jayne tutted and strode over to the wardrobe. She pulled out a freshly ironed school dress and pulled it over Lily's head. Once Lily was dressed, the trio pelted down the stairs and sprinted into the dining room. Miss Beaumont frowned at them as they plopped down into their chairs.

"Miss Evans, Miss White and Mr Lupin. Could you please see me once breakfast has ended?"

The three slowly nodded and dug in to their meal. It wasn't the greatest food, but Miss Beaumont was very kind and brought the best she could afford. There was a maximum amount of orphans allowed in the academy at any given time. It had started at twenty but inspectors saw how well it was run and allowed forty. Most of the kids were very young, and needed the elder ones to supervise them. Lily and Jayne, fortunately, weren't chosen to be a nanny, after they accidentally set one of the cribs alight three years ago. Instead, they were trained to be housewives or maids. This suited them well.

"Quiet down, children. I have some very important news."

Normally, the news would be something about one of the academy's special mentions. The students were all expecting something like that, so what they were told came as a bit of a shock.

"Sadly, King Orion, has passed away overnight."

This made some of the girls sob, but not Jayne or Lily.

"Thank goodness, the old toad," Jayne muttered under her breath to Lily, who snorted.

"His son, Prince Sirius, will be crowned King this weekend."

The whole table burst into chatter. The Royal Black family was known to be very snooty. All they wanted was money, women, big houses and power. King Orion was very mean and had no mercy. He would kill peasants, hang criminals and steal from the poor and give to the rich. An anti - Robin Hood. His son was rumoured to be just as evil.

"Children!" Miss Beaumont yelled and everybody went quiet. "I have also been told that he will take his residence in our very own Monroe Springs."

It all happened so quickly. The elder girls started crying, the boys pounded their fists on the table and all the younger children cried because they didn't know what was going on. The reason they were so distressed was very simple. All towns near a royal residence, would normally be forced into working for the royal family and slowly die a lonely existence. Nobody wanted that.

"Oh, Lily. What are we to do?" Jayne asked her friend frantically.

"I don't know, Jayne," Lily said and they both burst into tears.

Remus sighed and pulled them onto each of his knees. He put an arm around each of them and they cried onto his shoulders. This caused all the other girls to cry harder. Miss Beaumont tended to the younger ones, Cook gently hugged the girls, the boys wallowed in misery and Lily and Jayne continued crying on Remus' shoulders.

That day, all the children were allowed to have time off. No work was done and the kids mostly stayed in their rooms. Jayne and Lily cried all day on Remus' bed – which was the most comfortable – while he tried to make them laugh. Nothing worked.

"Girls, cheer up," he said, dropping down to his knees.

"How can we, Remus? We are the only orphanage for miles and I am almost positive they will take us to be there slaves," Jayne said miserably.

"We are all doomed," Lily added, fresh tears brewing in her eyes.

That night, Remus let them sleep with him in his bed. The girls stopped crying at about midnight and they slowly fell asleep. They would do their best to pull through it all, together.

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Author's note: Like it? Loathe it? Should I continue? Shall I not? You decide. 


	2. Cleaning

_The King, the Maids, the Jester and the Stable Hand_

_By RabbitohsGirl

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**A/N: Yay! New chapter is up! I'm sorry if I kept anybody waiting, unlikely though. You guys need to send in reviews by the handful. It will make me feel like a butterfly. Alive for three days! That is my definition of sugar highs. Mine last for days.**

**Anyway, I got a whole 6 review for last chapter. Who is cool? I am! Sort of.**

**Thanks to my reviewers: cherry328, iluvreading, Ms Andromeda Black, leannie123, SharkiesGirl and MentalLady. You guys are the coolest.**

**Ok, I got quite a good reaction for this fic. And since I am such a lovely person (cough, cough) I thought to myself, "You know, you should update." So I did. And here it is...**

**Thanks: You rock, Jenna. I give you virtual cookie dough.

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Lily woke up to find she was on Remus' bed, completely alone. She flung her legs over the edge and brought her feet to the floor. That is, if they made it. She heard a soft thud followed by a moan. Lily pulled her legs back up onto the bed and peered over the side.

"Whatdidcha do that for, Hun?" Jayne asked, tiredly.

Over the course of the night, she had managed to push both Remus and Jayne off the bed and into a pile of bed sheets. She had always been a restless sleeper. Jayne had wound up on top of Remus who, funnily enough, ended up tangled in the sheets.

"I'm sorry!" Lily exclaimed, waking Remus up.

"Ha?" he muttered, trying to sit up, only to be pushed back down by Jayne's attempts at getting back onto the bed.

"Sorry."

Jayne, after much effort, sat up on Remus' bed and reached a hand out to him. He accepted it and she pulled him up. The three of them sat on the bed, waking themselves up.

"What time is it?" Lily asked, yawning.

Remus looked over his shoulder to the old grandfather clock.

"Six."

They had one hour to get ready. The hour went slower than usual. The three showered, dressed, finished off any homework and cleaned up the room ready for the cleaner to mop the floors. It was only when the bell rang that they remembered why they were all in the same bed in the first place.

"I don't want to be sold as a slave," Jayne cried as they walked down to breakfast.

"None of us do, Jayne. I'm just wishing we will all still be together," replied Remus.

This sent shivers down Lily's spine. What would happen if they were separated? Lily had grown up with Jayne and Remus and she didn't want to think about life without them. They all sat down in their usual spots, all the other girls batting their eyelashes at Remus. He ignored them, as usual.

"Miss Evans, Miss White, Mr Lupin." The three looked up at Miss Beaumont and cringed. She was looking rather ghastly this morning. "I understand that yesterday was rather interrupted, but I still expected you to see me. This behaviour will not stand. If you could please see me before your classes commence, thank you." She slowly walked away.

"Old bat!" Jayne muttered under her breath.

Remus and Lily laughed. Jayne always criticised people behind their backs. Apart from that, she didn't have a mean streak in her. Lily always thought that when God was handing out meanness, she was off chasing a butterfly. The trio finished their meals and waited until classes started to see Miss Beaumont.

"Now children, why were you late yesterday morning?" she asked.

The group exchanged glances. Lily was the best liar of the group. Remus was pretty good but he took a few more moments to come up with a plausible excuse. Jayne was a terrible liar. She always told the truth out of guilt. Lily was yet to find out if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"I had a terrible morning, Miss," Lily said, coming to the rescue. "A boy broke my heart."

Miss Beaumont was a sucker for sympathy. She always thought that men were only put on Earth to break women's hearts. Alas, that is why she is a Miss, not a Mrs.

"Who was this boy, Miss Evans?" she asked, giving Lily a pitying look.

"The boy from the park, Miss," Lily replied, bringing fake tears to her eyes.

She copped it all. "Oh, there there. It'll be all better soon. You are dismissed."

The three teenagers walked out of her office beaming. Their classes – cooking, cleaning, care and English for the girls, English, building and business for the boys – came and went quickly. Too quickly.

"The bells rang earlier today," Remus pointed out during afternoon tea.

"I know."

Jayne always was the one to make short, pointless, obvious little comments. She had tried to stop once but she was either talking too much or being too silent. It just wouldn't fit in the balance if she didn't comment.

"Attention, children!" Miss Beaumont called out.

All the kids turned to face her, worry etched on their faces. If what she was about say had anything to do with King Sirius, they didn't want to hear it. They wouldn't allow themselves to hear it.

"I have some news."

"Well, duh," Jayne muttered.

"King Sirius," The Hall held its breath. "Has requested help for his Kingdom. There will be a range of different observers attending the School for the next week to choose who will be chosen to attend to our Majesty. I have requested that you be taken in groups, but I have yet to see through that plan. You are dismissed for today. The guests will arrive tomorrow morning and I expect the joint to be spick and span. Your chores are listed on your doors. God day."

The Hall cleared quickly. All the orphans walked to their room to check their list of jobs. Miss Beaumont was very strict about presentation and they were used to cleaning up around the place. Lily and Remus were given jobs out in the yard and Jayne was given the job of cleaning up around their room. She always got that job, being the cleanest of the three.

"What do you have to do, Remus?" Lily asked him as they walked down to the gardens.

"I have to mow the lawns, clip the trees and mend the fence. You?"

"I have to water the flowers, clean the windows and wipe down the tables."

Remus was always given the job of mowing. He was the eldest male at the orphanage and was very strong. He was the only one who could control the mower. Lily wasn't given outside jobs, usually. She was normally placed in the kitchens to wash everything down.

"This should be easy," Lily said as they grabbed all the appropriate cleaning equipment from the store rooms.

The mower was kept in the garden shed, along with the garden tools and watering can. When the pair stepped outside, they noticed that there were already people all over the place. Everybody had set to work to get their jobs done before sundown.

"What are you doing first?" Lily asked Remus.

"I always mow first. That way everybody can do the cleaning when I am done and aren't held up."

Lily nodded. "I'll water the plants first."

They set off to get the work done. By the time the orphanage was practically glowing with cleanliness, all the children under the age of twelve were asleep. Remus and Lily dragged themselves up the stairs to their room. Jayne was already in her flannelette pyjamas when they opened the door. She smiled and pulled them into a big hug.

"I cleaned the room and washed, ironed, laid-out and sorted the clothes."

Jayne could get a lot of things done in a short amount of time. It worried Lily. That was exactly what the observers were looking for.

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**I thought I would stop it there. The next chapter will start the morning after. You know the drill...**

**RG xoxoxox**


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